Sound from a Virtual Planet

Perhaps the most anticipated software development this spring was the release of the MAX/MSP/Jitter version 5 from Cycling 74, which came out last week. For those of you who don’t already know, MAX is object oriented programming environment for sound, music, video applications. Wikipedia has a very good overview and history of the program listed under Max (software).

A MAX/MSP Patch

While updates over the years have focused on, new objects and support for new OS technologies, the basic look and feel of MAX hasn’t changed much since it’s initial commercial release from Opcode. (Does anyone remember them?) MAX 5 addresses this with a complete rewrite of the entire underlining code, aligning it with current hardware and OS software platforms. A revised user interface includes a variety of on-screen de-bugging tools. Some of these, like a visual display of signal level at any connection, easily translate into powerful ways to learn about signal flow and processing. Visually, objects are much easier to look at, and a new user interface view separates the underlying patch structure from how it appears to a user/performer. Last year Cycling 74 announced an alliance with Ableton, makers of Live, and entire look of the new release of MAX looks a lot like its German cousin.

Pretty cool… That said, MAX (or Reaktor for that matter) isn’t for everyone. If you’ve got some hacker instincts, you’ll be able to get around MAX after working through the excellent tutorials that come with the program. Plan on a few weekends of focused study and experimentation and you’ll be on your way. Cycling 74 has a very good video introduction that will give you a taste of what the program is all about.

One of the high points of the Spring 2008 semester in the Music Technology Division at Berklee was a week-long visit from electronic musician Alessandro Cortini, best known for his work as the keyboard player for NIN. A visiting artist always presents a great opportunity for both students and teachers to get a better idea of exactly how people are working in the field. As with most visitors, I didn’t really know what to expect. I saw Allesandro play with NIN when the came through Boston in June 2006, and I did a bit of research, finding he was also part of a production/performance team called modwheelmood, but you don’t really know what someone’s going to do until they’re on campus.

Alessandro Cortini

I knew that Allesandro was doing a lot of work with modular synthesizers so I was keen on having him discuss strategies for integrating said devices into the composition/production process. On Monday afternoon he arrived to my composition seminar with his Buchla 200e modular synthesizer. What followed was a master class in the architecture, aesthetics and compositional strategies behind working with this wonderful instrument.

Alessandro Cortini’s Buchla 200e Modular Synth

There are two schools of thought regarding electronic instruments. These stem from the thinking and designs of two pioneers of early commercial synthesizers form the 1960s: Bob Moog and Don Buchla. Moog, working on the East Coast in upstate New York, felt that electronic instruments should be played by musicians, and his designs focused on the keyboard as the main connection between the player and machine. Buchla, on the other hand, was in a more free-thinking environment that was San Francisco, and he felt that the synthesizer should encourage a completely new way of developing and exploring musical ideas. (You’ll notice that Allesandro’s 200e has no keyboard controller.) From these two schools of thought came two early examples of commercially released synthesizer music. Just about everyone has heard of Wendy Carlos’ Switched On Bach that used the Moog Modular, and remains to this day, one of the best selling classical music albums of all time. Around the same time, Bay-area composer Morton Subotnick released an album called Silver Apples of the Moon, which was a showcase for the Buchla and the kind of music-making it encouraged.

Needless to say, in the mass market, the standard keyboard controller is the dominant interface for electronic music making. However, there are always those who are looking for new, unexplored or under-appreciated ways of manipulating electronic sound. Fast forward to 2008 and we find Cortini, who’s original calling was as a guitarist, touring and collaborating with Trent Reznor and NIN. Although he covers classic keyboard, bass and guitar parts on the road with NIN, his real passion is creating unique sound textures and rhythmic patterns that are used throughout the show.
While modular synthesizers are designed for studio use and are generally don’t stand up well to life on the road, Allesandro had a system built specifically for touring by EAR–Electro Acoustic Research. Onstage, there’s a Pro Tools system running backing tracks used in the show, and the EAR modular system gets it’s timing from it, so the rhythmic patterns it generates will always be in tempo. While this might seem like an obscure technical concept, Allesandro easily demonstrated how this was done in my Advanced MIDI Production class where he clocked his Buchla 200e to Logic.

During his week at Berklee, Alessandro talked a lot about using a modular synthesizer to generate musical ideas. The heart and soul of this comes from the different ways that a modular system controls musical timing. In general, this comes from a combination voltage-controlled step sequencers, and LFOs (low frequency oscillators), where the LFOs control tempo, rates, and rhythmic divisions, and the step sequencer produces control for pitch and other levels. Both of these sources are used to trigger envelopes that shape the sound. While this might sound simple, the routings and possibilities available in a modular system staggering. Check out this clip from YouTube of Allesandro tweaking his Buchla 200e. NIN fans might hear some vaguely familiar patterns and sounds.

In future posts I’ll be referring back to Allesandro Cortini’s Berklee visit. You can hear his work on both modular synthesizer and guitar on the new NIN release Ghosts I-IV. There are some cool studio shots of the sessions up on Flickr.